Hi PuckNYC! .
It looks like you’ve spent quite some time on our site as you seem to be heading in a good direction. With your preexisting lower back pain, I see why you are paying a bit more attention to selecting the support level you need without compromising comfort and how the bed is likely to keep its qualities over a longer period of time.
You’ve most likely come across many of the posts that discuss temperature and already know that layers that are closer to the top sleeping surface will have the greatest impact upon comfort and sleeping temperature (including any mattress pad, sheets, and linen). There is more about the many variables that can affect the sleeping temperature of a mattress or sleeping system in post #2 here.
Latex is the most breathable foam material and a good choice for those who tend to “sleep hot” but the ticking/quilting materials, mattress protector, and sheets and bedding can also have a big effect on temperature regulation in a mattress as well. There’s more about this in post #16 here.
[quote]Nest Natural Hybrid Latex in Firm - A good combination of firm support and contouring around my lower lumbar region. … I suspect it’s not an entirely latex mattress and that some of the foam is poly.
.1" Organic Stretch Knit Cotton and Joma Wool
1.5" 1.5lb Eco Flex Quilting Foam
3" Oeko-tex Cert. Dunlop Latex 34ILD
1" 1.5LB Eco-Friendly Comfort Foam
6" Caliber Edge Coil Support Pocketed Coils 16 gauge steel
1" 1.5lb Support Foam[/quote]
Nest Bedding is one of our Trusted Members of this site and like all the members here I think very highly of and consider them to be among the “best of the best” in the industry. The Nest Hybrid Latex is a mattress that uses good quality and durable materials that would be suitable for your weight/BMI range and there are no lower quality materials or weak links in any of them that would be a cause for concern in terms of the durability and useful life of their mattresses.
Latex, like memory foam, is very point-elastic which means that it compresses at millions of specific points across the surface to take on the shape of the body profile especially in the lower ILDs The “springiness and responsiveness” you are noticing is due to latex being resilient which means that absorbs much less energy than memory foam (which has little to no resilience at all.) so latex can enhance the “feel” of the mattress by making it more responsive and more adaptable to different body profiles and sleeping positions rather than the less responsive feeling of memory foam or the stiffer and less adaptable characteristics of polyfoam. Generally, latex is among the highest quality material that can be used in a mattress as it is unusual for its abilities to be both soft and supportive at the same time.
I see why you would be questioning how a higher number of coil gauge could affect its durability over time and its supportive qualities. The amount of steel in a coil would probably be the most reasonable measure of its overall “quality” and durability. But you can’t determine the amount of steel in an innerspring based on just the gauge of the coil because the number of coils (or the coil density), the height of the coil, the diameter of the coil, the shape of the coil, and the number of turns in each coil, and some of the other coil specs that can differentiate one coil from another can also make a significant difference in the amount of steel in an innerspring and along with the type of coil and how the individual coils are connected together can also make a significant difference in the firmness and response of the innerspring as well. You may also notice that Caliber Edge used in Nest’s hybrid latex is 6" which means that it would be more supportive than its 8" counterpart.
Especially considering your BMI, all in all, I’d say that if a tempered innerspring provides suitable support and alignment when you lie on the mattress and it isn’t too soft for your weight and body type then it’s very unlikely that it would be the weakest link in a mattress which is likely to be in the comfort layers above the innerspring.
This is what Nest has on its site
…“Super Soft Organic Knit Cotton and Joma Wool / Eco-Friendly Comfort Foam” which at one inch or so would not be a weak link in terms of durability in a mattress. You can read Mattress Durability Guidelines/ to learn more about the factors that can affect the durability and life of a mattress.
[quote]Alexander Signature Series Flippable Even though it’s memory foam, I didn’t feel like I was sinking in like I did with the Casper. I’ve never bought an all foam mattress so I have a lot of concerns. Will the bed trap heat? Will the foam soften too much over time and have indentations? I really liked how the mattress felt in the store; however, I worry that as the foam conforms after a few months, it’ll be too soft and I’ll start to sink in. I’m not sure if these issues would reveal themselves within the 100 day trial. I would say I liked the feel of this mattress a little more than the Natural Hybrid Latex. The salesperson said this mattress is expected to last 6-8 years and I would need to rotate it every few months. So durability seems to be less than a hybrid.
1" 15 ILD CoolFlow™ Plush Quilting Foam & Organic Cotton Cover
2" 3.5 lb. 10 ILD Gel Memory Foam
2" 1.5 lb. 24 ILD Transitional Foam polyfoam
7" 2 Ib. 30 ILD Luxury Firm Base Foam polyfoam
1" 15 ILD CoolFlow™ Plush Quilting Foam & Organic Cotton Cover[/quote]
Again, with your lower back issue, I would be cautious if there is more than around an inch or so of lower density foam above the polyfoam support layer as this could be a weak link in a mattress. This generally happens with the gradual breakdown of lower density foams (below 4lbs for memory foams) that will affect its supportive qualities. Memory foam has very low resilience, has a more “in the mattress” feel to it, and changes its feel and response with pressure, temperature, humidity, and length of time it is subject to compression forces. It can feel firm in some conditions or circumstances and soft under different conditions. You can read more about the pros and cons of memory foam in this article So you can see that most of your other concerns related to memory foam heat retention, softening and breakdown, even how it feels during the course of the night are legitimate. I’d refer you back to the links provided in the Mattress Durability Guidelines article above and
All foams are insulators (rather than heat conductors) so to some degree, they will all be warmer than mattresses that contain no foam at all (such as the Parachute mattresses that only have an innerspring and layers of natural fibers on top) but these tend to be premium or super-premium mattresses and for the most part, almost all mattresses have some type of foam in the comfort layers.
[quote]Parachute The Mattress - This mattress is new so there isn’t any information on durability.
… I think this bed will keep the coolest since it’s made of natural fibers and has a coil on coil design.
… The price is much higher than the other two mattresses and there’s not a lot of material in the mattress. I’m worried that the two sheets of wool will compress over time and I’ll start to feel the microcoils. "[/quote]
The durability would be based on the components, not so much how long the mattress has been around. They claim on their site that this mattress will have a lifespan of 10 years. Most mattresses have a lifespan of 8 – 10 years, so this is nothing out of the ordinary here.
Microcoils can be durable and breathable as comfort layers. There’s nothing wrong with using them in that respect, but they do offer a bit of a different feel. It’s possible you would want a topper eventually, as natural fibers will tend to compress over time and feel a bit harder.
There is an entire thread here between a consumer and one of our Expert Members regarding Parachute’s “The Mattress” – including a discussion surrounding the wool sheets as a comfort layer, which you may find interesting.
I hope this information adds a bit more depth to your research. I look forward to hearing an update!
Phoenix